Friday, March 13, 2009

I got a call from the Library's HR department. They'd done an audit and discovered that they had misplaced some forms Mario and I had filled out before we started work. They're the forms that prove we can legally work in this country. I filled mine out twenty-two years ago. Mario filled out his twenty-one years ago. Anyway, when the person who called me said, "We need these forms for Homeland Security," I got sick to my stomach. Whenever I hear the words "Homeland Security" I think of Nazi Germany. It took me a minute to get a grip and realize it was just a lost form. In April they're changing some things so that this form is more complicated, the person from HR told me. I said, "But Bush is gone. This is the Obama adminstration." Doesn't matter: I still have to fill out these forms.

It's true I filled out the forms before Bush was in office. Still Homeland Security came out of the Bush administration. I want all the remnants of the Bush administration gone, and Homeland Security is a remnant. I want all the corrupt policies undone. I want all the people prosecuted for their crimes and for their greed. And if this country must have something like Homeland Security, change the name, get rid of the Patriot Act, and truly make it about people feeling secure in their country: stop global warming, get healthcare for all, and create good jobs which fulfill and sustain families. That's security.

1 comment:

When I first heard the phrase "Homeland Security", right after 9/11, I thought, "doesn't anyone else think that's very odd and un-American-sounding?" It still gives me chills. Glad to know I'm not the only one.